1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to data storage and retrieval generally and more particularly to a method and system for virtual storage element placement within a storage area network.
2. Description of the Related Art
Information drives business. Companies today rely to an unprecedented extent on online, frequently accessed, constantly changing data to run their businesses. Unplanned events that inhibit the availability of this data can seriously damage business operations. Additionally, any permanent data loss, from natural disaster or any other source, will likely have serious negative consequences for the continued viability of a business. Therefore, when disaster strikes, companies must be prepared to eliminate or minimize data loss, and recover quickly with useable data.
Storage virtualization is one technique which is used to simplify the storage and provision of data from the perspective of application host data processing systems and users. Storage virtualization is the application of virtualization to storage services or devices for the purpose of aggregating, hiding complexity or adding new capabilities to lower level storage resources. Using storage virtualization, the internal function of a storage (sub) system(s) or service(s) are abstracted, hidden, or isolated from applications, application host data processing systems, or general network resources for the purpose of enabling application and network-independent management of storage or data. Storage can be virtualized simultaneously in multiple layers of a system, and storage virtualization may be provided at the application host, network interconnect, or storage device level.
Where storage virtualization is implemented with a storage area network (SAN), virtual storage elements (e.g., Virtual Logical Units or “VLUNs”) are presented to application host data processing systems using virtualization devices (e.g., virtualization switches where virtualization is provided at the network interconnect level). Selecting which virtualization device will be associated with, and therefore use to present a virtual storage element can be a complex, slow, and error-prone process, particularly where the number of virtualization devices within a storage area network is large.